September 3, 2022: I'm a Little Bit Rock & Roll

Las Vegas
Fremont Street Experience

Day two in Vegas. We have hit the maximum time limit to spend in Vegas, especially when temps are in the 110s! SOOOOO HOOOOTT!!! UGH!

The main reason for my trip to Las Vegas -- to see Rick Springfield -- was on the agenda for the evening, but what to do until then? Eileen, Megan, Jackie and I managed to do a pretty good job of killing off the morning and afternoon. First up was breakfast and a little window shopping while waiting for our table to be ready. It was really too hot to stay outdoors for too long, so after breakfast we wandered over to the strip and eventually popped into the Flamingo, which is probably the last old-school hotel on the strip. Wayne Newton still performs there regularly!

We wandered around a bit and eventually taught Jackie how to play blackjack on one of the video blackjack games. A good way to learn the game, but a bit different from sitting at the tables. It was an enjoyable way to kill time between chatting and people watching. We headed back to our hotel early in the afternoon to rest and freshen up for our evening activities. Megan and Jackie weren't joining Eileen and I for Rick -- they were heading to Spago's in the Bellagio for dinner before heading over to RuPaul's Drag Race at the Flamingo. Meanwhile, Eileen and I hopped in a cab to head out to the Fremont Street Experience.

The Fremont Street Experience is definitely an... um... experience! Fremont Street is OLD Las Vegas -- where everything started before the hotels along Las Vegas Boulevard (aka The Strip) were built, and it shows. This is definitely budget Vegas and a little sketchy. I will give credit to the hotel owners putting in a decent effort to make it a draw. For a couple of blocks, Fremont Street is a pedestrian walkway with an enormous video screen "roof" that covers the entire street and sidewalks. There were even some misters in places, so wandering around outdoors in 115 degrees didn't feel quite as miserable as it could have. Still, the whole vibe of the place was rather rundown.

Eileen and I went off in search of someplace to grab dinner, but the options weren't quite as varied as on the Strip. We went into one hotel and the options were a very expensive steakhouse or McDonalds. Um... no. We eventually just settled for a Denny's we'd spotted. It was outside the "secure" area, which meant going through the security gates again, but it wasn't onerous and the "security" was the jankiest set up I've ever seen. If ever there was a prime example of "security theater," the entry to Fremont Street definitely qualified.

Despite the sketchiness of the whole set up and the janky security, there were a LOT of people along the street which made getting to the stage for the show a bit of a challenge. Especially since the show was free (another item to draw people away from the Strip.) We had both assumed that Men at Work would be up first, so we took our time with dinner before heading to the show only to discover that John Waite was up first and we wound up missing most of his set, arriving as he was wrapping up his last song -- a cover of "Whole Lotta Love!"

The area in front of the stage was jam packed, so Eileen and I worked our way to the back and found a less crowded spot behind the soundboard and camped out there. The sun was going down, so the temperature was dropping a little, but with all the people packed in there wasn't a lot of relief from the heat. We stood around for a bit waiting for Men at Work (a.k.a. Colin Hay and a bunch of musicians mostly from the Carribean) and started chatting with the people around us. It was a really nice bunch of people and an enjoyable way to pass the time.

Men at Work finally took the stage a little after 8:00 and played a bunch of songs neither Eileen or I recognized. About half-way through the set, finally, "Overkill" one we knew! That set off a string of hits for the rest of the set. All in all, fairly enjoyable. Once Men at Work finished, I was surprised at the number of people who left. It really thinned out the crowd. I guess they have a bigger fan base than I thought!

It was going to be a bit yet until Rick took the stage and it was really hot, so Eileen and one of our new friends went off to find drinks for the group. I stayed and saved spots and chatted some more with the people around me. I must say that is really one of the fun things about any live show -- you make brief connections with total strangers over the love of music.

Shortly before Rick took to the stage, Eileen and friend returned with the drinks -- mostly water with a couple of beers for a couple of the guys. I was so glad for the water! I do not like hot weather and start wilting if it gets over 80, so 110+ was just awful. I've joked for a while that if Steve Perry were to perform on the moon, I'd get my self there. Apparently, I'm willing to go to the surface of the sun for Rick Springfield! 

But now it was time for the main event. Eileen was the lucky one of the two of us back in the day having seen Rick on the original Working Class Dog tour. This show was ostensibly the 40th Anniversary celebration of that breakthrough album (it was released in 1981, so 41 years in reality), so I expected that Rick would be playing it. Nope. It was mostly a regular greatest hits set, but a ton of fun. I was a bit challenged at times trying to remember the lyrics, but most of them came back. Eileen did a better job than I did.

It's a bit hard to figure out what my favorite part was as I was all smiles and singing along all evening. "Love Is Alright" is probably my biggest song highlight as it was always one of my favorite songs. He also did a medley of songs about midway through the show that covered several songs including the always amusing "Bruce" which cracked me up. And as we were at a show a few days after Rick's 73rd birthday (!!!) there was an audience sing along of "Happy Birthday." I will say there are few 73 year old men who look as good with his shirt off as Rick does!

One of the features of Fremont Street is a zipline that runs down the length of the street, so periodically during the show there would be people flying by above us whereupon Rick would fling a guitar pick out at the audience "trying" to hit the people flying over. Another bit of amusement.

As this was the last show of the tour, Colin Hay and John Waite came out on stage and joined in on a cover of "All Right Now." It was a bit hodge-podge as they had just pulled it together that afternoon in soundcheck, but all in all a fun bit.

The show closed off, naturally, with "Jessie's Girl" with everyone singing along the whole way. The big hit is always a big highlight. (I included a clip after the set list.)

Jesus freaks Out in the street Handing tickets out for God

But that wasn't all for the Fremont Street Experience experience! No, just as the set was ending, a group of people with big signs about Jesus and sinners must repent started marching through the crowd. It was probably one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen at a show. I've seen "Jesus freaks" outside shows many times protesting the idolatry of a rock concert, but never marching through the crowd! And talk about a losing cause -- not just in Vegas, but at one of the seedier sides of Vegas. They passed through without much hassle (though the signs blocked my view of the stage briefly which was annoying.)

Eileen and I made our way out of the crowd and grabbed a cab back to the hotel where we met up once again with Megan and Jackie for a couple of drinks. Lots of late night chatting before bed, and still more chatting the next morning at breakfast before flying home. All in all a pretty fun weekend with my cousins.

 

John Waite set list:

Change
Back on My Feet Again
When I See You Smile
Missing You
Midnight Rendezvous
Whole Lotta Love 

Men at Work set list:

Touching the Untouchables
No Restrictions
Down by the Sea
I Can See It in Your Eyes
Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive
No Sign of Yesterday
Overkill
It's a Mistake
Who Can It Be Now?
Down Under
Be Good Johnny

Rick Springfield set list:

Affair of the Heart
I Get Excited
Living in Oz
I've Done Everything for You
World Start Turning
State of the Heart
 -- Happy Birthday --
Medley: Bop 'Til You Drop/Bruce/867-5309-Jenny/Jessie's Girl/Don't Walk Away/Rock of Life/What Kind of Fool Am I
Love Is Alright
Don't Talk to Strangers
Human Touch
Love Somebody
All Right Now
Jessie's Girl

 

 

June 18 2010: I'm a Screamng Thirteen Year Old

San Mateo, CA
San Mateo County Event Center

June, 1982 -- Flush with cash from my eighth grade graduation, I make my mom take me to the mall so I can hit Musicland. I have enough cash so that I can buy not one, not two, but THREE new records. Woo hoo was I loaded! I pick up Paul McCartney's Tug of War, Journey's Escape, and Rick Springfield's Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet. Thus begins the foundation of my music collection....

June, 2010 -- Time just flies by and by now I've seen Paul McCartney at least a half dozen times, Journey too many times to count, but ah.. Rick Springfield... nary a once. But, lookie here, he's playing the San Mateo County Fair on a Friday night. Ten bucks for a flashback to the early 1980s and junior high -- why not?!

Now, I have no problem going to shows by myself, but this one... this one just screamed "girls night out." And after a bevy of emails and text messages and varied changing plans, I wound up going to the show with my good friend Mary who picks me up after work and off to the fair. Being a GA show, we got in about an hour before show time and grabbed a couple of seats as close to the front as we could (probably about 20 rows back) and camp out -- taking turns going for food. Looking around, as expected, there were lots of groups of women in their 40s out for a fun, light hearted night.

Show starts right on time at 7:30 and out comes Rick and his band and the crowd gets up on their feet. My first thought... "Wow, does he look good or what?!" Let's get serious for a minute here... back in '82 I bought McCartney because he was a legend, Journey for the songs, and Rick 'cause he was eye candy! Sure, I loved the music and "Jessie's Girl" was one of my favorite tunes, but oh the ever so dreamy Dr. Noah Drake... siiiiiigggghhhh.... So the music, obviously, was secondary to my 13-year old hormones. 28 years later... well, he's older to be sure, but has aged very VERY well... (another siiiigggggghhhh....)

The set list was filled with the old hits, some new tunes, and a sprinkling of covers. My personal highlight from the set was "Love Is Alright Tonite" -- which was probably my favorite of his hits and the song that always got me dancing in the living room when I played Working Class Dog (a gift from my dear cousin Laura who couldn't join us at the last minute!) All these years later, I was dancing and singing like I was 13 all over again. I did fairly well at remembering the lyrics to the old songs, some of which I hadn't heard in 25 years (having listened to the two albums I own earlier in the week, I was covered on some tunes), but had to hum along at a couple of points because they weren't all coming back to me. At a couple of points in the show, he climbed out into the crowd and stood on the seats and sang and played guitar. I must say he's a pretty decent guitarist. Most of the time he's handling the rhythm duties, but he pulled off a couple of nice solos and a pretty decent cover of "Crossroads." The handful of "newish" tunes were pretty good too and worked well in the set, but of course, everyone was really there to hear the old '80s hits.

As the show was winding down, he came out into the audience again during "Human Touch" and worked his way down the center section and wound up two rows behind me and across the aisle. Well, to head back up to the stage, he crossed the aisle, hopped up on a chair in the row behind me and started climbing forward. ZOINKS! I was about 3 chairs away as he climbed over into my aisle. My inner 13 year old dropped in a dead faint!

The main set closed out, naturally, with "Jessie's Girl" which he teased by saying "We don't play that any more." (Yeah, right, like anyone would believe that!) After he headed off stage, Mary asked me "Are there usually encores at these shows?" I told her the ones I'd seen always had them, but I couldn't think of what the encore might be this time. Rick and the band appear once again and do a cover of "Wild Thing" and close out with "Kristina."

All in all, a fun night out, and a good way to start my summer concert season (albeit a couple of days late since the U2 show I was supposed to see on Wednesday has been postponed for a year!)